Americans becoming increasingly retirement-conscious, study says

More than 44 percent of Americans rolled over their entire retirement account distributions to another tax-qualified plan in 2006, according to a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. In 1993, only 19.3 percent moved all the funds into another retirement plan.

Americans have also been increasingly farsighted. Only 9.2 percent of distribution recipients in 2006 spent the entire amount on non-investment items such as household expenses. In 1993, 22.7 percent spent the lump sum on "consumption" items.

"We would think the consumption would be higher in the last couple of years, because there have been more people in need," says Craig Copeland, senior research associate with EBRI. "The rollovers would go down, given the economic climate."